Volume 12, Issue 3 - Volume 12, Issue 3 (2011) Back-to-School Issue

For most young people today, the college years have become a pivotal time for clarifying some of life's big questions about meaning and purpose. Self-authorship, self-governance, and moral commitment are important aspects of the search for an enduring sense of purpose and meaning in life. Authors in this issue of the Journal of College and Character explore the critical role that meaning and purpose play in the lives of young adults and some of the ways that higher education can support students in this aspect of their learning and development. The issue includes several articles authored by speakers or panelists at the 2011 Dalton Institute on College Student Values at The Florida State University.

The average number of hours that college students study each week has been declining for decades (Babcock & Marks, 2011). This trend in student academic behavior raises serious concern about how much students are learning in college and has prompted a reexamination of factors related to the studying behavior of students. The authors of this article examine the pivotal role that self-regulation or self-governance behaviors play in student study habits and personal development, and what colleges and universities can do to encourage greater time on task in collegiate academic work.

This essay revisits Alexis de Tocqueville's "Democracy in America"—especially his belief that citizen "habits of the heart" would play a critical role in the future of American democracy—and explores its implications for higher education in our current political crisis.

The authors of this dialogue discuss the developmental capacities that enable students and graduates to achieve the knowledge and skills required to navigate life’s challenges. They stress the need for a balance of agency and communion that is reflected in self-authorship, or the internal capacity to define beliefs, identities, and social relations. Their two approaches (one incorporating college student development theory and the other, philosophical perspectives) emphasize that providing conditions for the cultivation of self-authorship in students involves active engagement with, and a critical openness to, others’ perspectives.

The purpose of the article is to discuss the glittering, bejeweled, daring, illegitimate stepsister of questionable character in the collegiate environment: the department of athletics. The author argues how this stepsister might become legitimate if the product of athletics were viewed and valued differently. An argument is presented that if football or all other athletic sports became majors, the effects would demand major changes in how athletics are practiced in the university regarding coach education, coach hiring, athlete education, and salaries and ethical practice. The illegitimate stepsister might then become legitimate and valued.

The researcher analyzed National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) data for over 7,000 first-year students at nearly 450 institutions to examine the impacts on spiritual development. International, Asian, and first generation students reported gains in spirituality. Participating in worshipful activities, engaging in service learning and encountering diversity in the classroom relate positively to spiritual development, and students’ perceptions of positive peer relationships and institutional support for social and nonacademic needs relate to spiritual development. Certain organizational features such as general education coursework in religion/spirituality, institutional mission statements containing spiritual language, and required religious observances positively impact first-year students’ spiritual development.

This article presents the first half of an address at the 2011 Jon C. Dalton Institution on College Student Values. Drawing on personal reflections regarding his higher education experiences, the author argues that cultivating a robust disposition for benevolence requires a synthesis of intellectual engagement, critical self-reflection, and experiential influences. Alone, none of these is sufficient.

The number of students who do not believe in a higher power is rising, but these students often find themselves marginalized and struggle to gain acceptance on campus. Using data from the Secular Student Alliance, this article explores the interests of nonreligious nontheistic students, identifies issues these students face on campus, and offers strategies for accommodating nonreligious nontheists as part of a diverse student body.

In a recent volume of the Journal of College and Character, Peter Magolda (2010) suggested that student administration professionals and campus religious groups should strive to overcome the separation that has been observed between the groups. In the present article, the author contends that good historical, moral, and legal reasons remain for a certain amount of separation. Nonetheless, the author also suggests that Magolda’s specific proposals hold promise, and there are also historical, moral, and legal possibilities for certain types of limited and focused partnerships that should be considered.

Contrary to expectation, an academic leftist advocates for students in the military, having observed these students' consistently excellent performance over 12 years of teaching philosophy and humanities. This excellence is attributed to the development of character and the acquisition of virtue, offering lessons for teachers and students alike. The author reminds fellow liberal academics of issues and responsibilities they may face regarding students in the military, and encourages greater responsiveness on the part of faculty and administration to returning veterans in the classroom.

Across the United States, colleges and universities are increasingly giving voice to campus internationalization. However, the benefits of this endeavor cannot be fully realized if institutions do not balance their efforts with deliberate and consistent assessment practices. This study examined the global worldviews of students, faculty, and administration/staff at a Hispanic and minority serving institution in Texas. Results indicating areas of global perspective strength and challenge for each group are highlighted. Strategies for campus internationalization that incorporate the perspectives of these groups are also discussed.

For the past 40 years, Alverno College faculty, staff, and students have collaborated in the creation of an integrated learning and assessment model that requires students to demonstrate, and faculty to assess, eight core abilities: Communication, Analysis, Problem Solving, Valuing in Decision-Making, Social Interaction, Developing a Global Perspective, Effective Citizenship, and Aesthetic Engagement. This article features a description of Alverno’s Valuing in Decision-Making Ability Department, which oversees curricular and co-curricular activities related to the teaching, learning, and assessment of the ability. Another primary focus is to describe and illustrate the valuing ability, how it is defined as a process, how it relies on interdisciplinary collaboration and cooperation for curricular innovation, and how it emphasizes the development of faculty and students as purposeful professionals and community members.

In a previous article for the “Engagement on Campus” column in the Journal of College and Character, the authors described the weaker sense of community experienced by students of color and students from low-socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds in a university-based community service learning program, as well as how students from these identity groups described and understood their experiences within the program (Novick, Seider, & Huguley, 2011). In this article, the authors turn to qualitative interviews with participating students from this same community service learning program who identified as White and/or affluent. The descriptions by these students of conversations within the program about race and class offer further insight into the dynamics that contribute to a discrepant sense of community in courses or programs involving community service learning.

The author challenges the current trend of seeing college as mandatory and questions whether schools and students alike might be better served by academic administrators, parents, and other well-meaning role models acknowledging that education has many forms, and that not every student will have the same aptitude or investment in the outcome. Investigating the balancing values of economics and societal duty in choosing whether to attend college, the author maintains that while college is a great investment for many people, college students should pursue their paths for the sake of knowledge itself while not making undue assumptions about those who choose not to pursue higher education.

This article explores the purposes and impact of internationalization in higher education, with a particular focus on the impact of adopting Western models. The authors provide two examples that reflect different perspectives of character—examples that illuminate the need to contextualize and adapt Western assumptions and practices. If international institutions are to impact character in addition to influencing intellectual and workforce capacity, their graduates will need to experience deeper and holistic learning through culturally appropriate curricular and co-curricular encounters.